


A Face To Call Home

by pcy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Bittersweet, Celebrity Crush, Christmas, Cute, Drama, F/M, Fanfiction, Female Protagonist, K-pop References, Male Protagonist, New Year's Eve, Original Character(s), POV Female Character, POV Original Character, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Pop Culture, Romance, Romantic Comedy, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-01 04:37:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pcy/pseuds/pcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Where do you see yourself within a year?” he asked me as we walked in the busy streets of Seoul “In my own country working, maybe as a freelancer, maybe in magazine, even on TV! Can you picture that?” I laughed still not sure where he was going with that question, or those legs I feared “So this” he pointed at us “Won’t last for too long?” he stopped on his tracks and turned to look at me “Probably no” I simply said coming to realization <strong> “Well, then I wish you a lifetime full of moments too beautiful to capture on film”. </strong></p><p> </p><p>  <em>In which the boy who is always running away from cameras meets a girl whose responsibility is to command them, and somehow those lens that he often related to hunting arrows pointing exclusively at him, going for his kill don’t seem so harmful anymore.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I tried to explain in the first chapters the dinamics of the story and scenario so you won't be lost while reading it, I also tried to make it the most accurate as I possibly could and if you notice any cultural mistakes please warn me! Thanks for taking your time reading my work and I hope you enjoy it!

The sun was starting to set while I took the last picture off my wall and put it in to one of my bags, UCLA has been my home for the past years, it is the place where I met my best friend, had my first boyfriend - even though most of the times I wish I hadn't - heard really harsh critics and won at beer pong five times. I've made so many memories here, luckily I have almost every single one of them on camera, that's one of the perks of majoring in Film and Journalism, you've _got to_ train your film-making and photography skills and I've chosen to do so with my own life. 

My parents weren't very supportive of my course choice back in senior year both of them were pretty worried about the markert and how would I fit in it and if I would get paid enough, they tried to fight me at the time but later on they gave up because I had gotten in one of the best schools in the country. I know they still worry, specially my father who pressures me to this day, questioning how will I live at my own cost and pulling jokes about how what he paid for my tuition will probably be more than what I'll make in my life, he thinks he's really funny with those even though he's the only one who laughs each time, but I hope to prove him wrong very soon.

"Smile!" my roommate Beckett chanted happily as she snapped a picture of me "The last picture I take of you and you look all gloomy!"

"Stop this! I'm so sad to leave, but I'm also excited for what's to come, as in starting to work and everything else" I said "I'll miss you the most though"

"I sure won't miss you talking in your sleep every night" she started laughing as I threw the jeans I was holding at her "Do you even understand the concept of joking?"

We kept reminiscing our college days and deciding who was going to keep what from our room for a few minutes when our dorm inspector knocked on our already open door.

"Cora?" she called for me "Professor William has requested your presence at Dr. Robinson's office, he says he needs you there as soon as possible"

"Okay, I'll be there" I softly replied "Did he say what it is about?"

"No, just told me to give you the message be there" she coldly answered "Congratulations on graduating by the way, you too Beckett I guess it was everyone's surprise to see you up there" with that comment she left our room and disappeared into the hallway.

"Bitc- I can't say that word because I know how it downgrades women but honestly I have no other thoughts about her!" she defended herself as I glared at her "Anyway, what do you think it is about?"

"I honestly have no idea, all my loans were already paid for and I don't remember anything I could have possibly done to get in trouble"

"What about that time we skinny-dipped in the campus' lake?" she asked "Could they have found out about it?"

"Oh my God no way! It was freshmen year right? They would've punished us before wouldn't they?" I start panicking "I better go there now before we antecipate it even more"

"I'll text mom telling I'll be late for the dinner party then! I can't miss this, go!" she gestured towards the door "Come back with good news please so this won't be a waste!"

I left the room and walked towards Dr. Robinson's office wondering why Professor William would want to speak to me, and why on the principal's office. Did I do something wrong? Did I do something right? Are they going to communicate me that I'm not graduating after all? With all these thoughts racing through my mind I knocked on the door with shaking hands.

I hear a muffled "Come in" sound and entered the room, everything looked pretty normal, I've never been here before but Dr. Robinson is a very elegant man and his office reflects it in its modern decoration with black and white contrapositions. I looked at the Professor William who held a calm expression on his face, matching the principal's that was collected, both probably a paradox of my own.

"Hello miss" Dr. Robinson said gesturing to the chair next to Professor William and in front of his' "Please sit down"

"You're probably wondering why I asked to talk to you and Dr. Robinson together" Professor said and I nodded "When I was grading your class' graduation projects I ran through yours and I must say I was quite impressed by it so I brought it to Dr. Robinson and so was he. Your topics were very specific and really well elaborated"

"I thought so too and your subject was also very interesting, no other student chose to talk about the geopolitics during The Cold War specially focusing on the secondary countries, as they are called, that received investments from the US" Dr. Robinson continued Professor William's explanation "So Professor came up with an idea to bring it to life"

"To bring my project to life? How exactly?" I spoke for the first time "By publishing it?"

"Not by publishing, but by documenting it" Professor William answered me "Let us elaborate some more, you wrote about each country that supported the US during The Cold War and in return received investments, right? But we're aiming to discuss specifically one" he continued "I don't know if you ever heard of it, but before becoming a professor I used to be a correspondent for NBC News from 1982 to 1993 in South Korea to record and report the American investments there. I always wanted to go back and see for myself how much it has changed and maybe even write one article or two about the experience, but your project opened my eyes for another opportunity: to turn my experience into a documentary"

"When professor came to talk to me about it at first I thought he had lost his mind" Dr. Robinson said "Going to South Korea to film a documentary about the American intervention there and how the country developed, in contrast to North Korea, while keeping its culture intact, all that making a parallel with his old reports? Where would the money come from? And the crew? I said it was impossible but he had it all figured out and I could no long argue"

"Turns out a lot of people are interested in this idea!" Professor said "I got in touch with some of my old contacts from NBC News and I already have a crew here and in South Korea ready to start filming, we also have sponsors! Big names like Samsung and POSCO are willing to help us as they are huge multinationals which roots' are there, all we need now is your permission to begin and your passport to leave with us!" he excitedly finished "What do you say?"

I was dazed by the whole situation, there was no way this was happening, I looked at the two men in the room who were waiting for my answer "Let me see if I understood this well, you want to turn my project into a documentary, like the ones people watch on National Geographic and Discovery Channel, but only about South Korea and you already have it all figured out and you want me to go with Professor William to film and produce it?"

"That's exactly it" they said in unison and Dr. Robinson continued "You also won't need to pay for your stay there, which will last around six months, neither for the flight outlays or equipment and crew, your only expenses will be related to personal reasons, such as where you prefer to eat and shop, also, you will receive a weekly amount of money that is yet to be discussed since you were the one to write what is going to be used as the draft for this whole production"

"And I will supervise everything to keep the project on its tracks so you can relax about things such as the schedule bureaucracy and focus on developing the project, also this whole experience could do wonders for your career, imagine it as a prolonged internship full of advantages, payment and extra training!" Professor Williams' face lit up as he finished "So, what is your answer?"

"My answer is yes" I calmly replied even though I was practically bursting inside "When are we leaving?"

"On Monday, so you have two days to pack your belongings and say goodbye to your family and friends" he replied "I hope that's enough"

"It is" I said "Thank you so much for this opportunity Professor I will not let you down, and thank you Dr. Robinson I will do everything I am capable of to make UCLA and you proud"

"I'm sure of it" the principal replied "You can go back to your dorm now, Professor Robinson and I will make sure to contact you to send further details"

I thanked them again and left the room, I couldn't believe in what just happened in that office, only thirty minutes passed but it felt like eternity and I wondered if Beckett was still waiting for me to come back, I found it pretty soon when I stood at our door and saw her laying on the bed with her phone in her hands, she glanced my way and asked "Why are you crying?"

I didn't realize I was crying until then probably because as I sprinted down the hallways the wind in my face wouldn't let me feel the tears or maybe I was just going crazy, you never know. I sat next to her on the single bed and told her everything from me nervously knocking on Dr. Robinson's door to Professor William not being able to control his excitement as he asked what my final answer was, Beckett hugged me and I don't know for how long we stood like that until she let me go and said "Maybe you're the one who should text your mom now" she sighed "Hell, you sure are going to be late for dinner"

 

* * *

 

I communicated my family about the project the next day and they were all very supportive about it, which wasn't common but still heartwarming, even though I couldn't spend much time with my parents as they were in LA just for my graduation it felt good to see them one last time. Things worked differently for my brother and I, on Sunday he and Beckett hijacked me to go shopping for the travel and it didn't matter how much I would protest that I didn't need any more sundresses they just wouldn't quit.

"You don't even know what season is there now" I said "What if it's winter and all I'm taking are dresses and tank tops? I don't even like tank tops"

"Do you want to shop for winter clothes as well?" Rob asked "Oh my God yes! We are totally getting you a fur coat"

Robert is only one year younger than me and the fact that our age gap is small drew us very close, so leaving home to study was really difficult for me because I didn't want to leave him alone, especially after he came out to my parents, I wanted to be there to give him all the support my father wasn't offering, it was a bit dramatic at first but things settled down after a while. Now he's in Pratt's Fashion course and he loves it so much, the last time I was on his apartment he showed me his sketches and they are incredible, so I can't argue much with him when it comes to dressing up and pretty much anything to be honest.

"That not what I meant Rob I-"

"Shut it right now Cora" Beckett covered my face with one of her hands while holding another dress with her free one "You are not going to take any of your UCLA hoodies to this trip! I won't allow it! Rob you go search for the coats I will conduct the summer session from now on" she finally let go of my face with a scowl still present on her face.

I also can't argue with Beckett, you might try but one can never win, she has a list of concepts that she loves and the first one is that she is always right - even when she isn't - that is why probably she is so good at what she does and why her parents never tried to interfere in her choices, she won't take no for an answer, even when it makes her seem lofty.

If Beckett said the sky was pink I truly believe it would turn, just for her.

"Put some sense on my sister's head for me Becky, but you are sure as hell not going to conduct the summer session alone I don't trust you either" my little brother said while looking through his phone not even noticing Beckett fake-crying grabbing a few shorts "By the way I googled the climate of Korea and you're in luck! You'll be staying there from July to December right?" he asked and I nodded "That means you'll be there for three seasons! Summer, autumn and winter, see?" he said as shoved his phone on to my face  "You are going to wear those dresses and then some really cool maroon coats to match the falling leaves and finally the fur coat we sure will buy as soon as we find one!"

I ended up surrendering to them and at the end of the day our legs were hurting from walking so much and my hands were full of shopping bags, Rob gave them the nickname of Treasure Bags because according to him you could find anything inside them, and none of us could disagree, you could go from nightgowns – Beckett's idea – to knitted socks – my idea, which earned me two pairs of very displeasured eyes – within a three fingers distance.

The night came through and my brother drove me to my hotel, it was the time to say our goodbyes, Rob made me promise to only buy fashionable clothes during my stay claiming to not give a damn if our time zones are extremely different "I don't care if you will be twelve hours in to the future you better send me a picture of an outfit before buying it, I'm not letting you spend your money on ugly things so please just do as I tell okay sis?" he said in between sniffles "I swear to God if you come home with another pair of those ugly socks I'm going to burn them all, those ugly things, not you, you're very pretty and I love you" we finished hugging and he started to head back to his car "I can't stay here any longer or I'll ugly cry and my foundation is too expensive to be ruined by steaming salty tears! Have fun! But not too much so my jealousy won't eat me alive!" Rob rambled while walking away and wiping his face.

At this point I was already tearing up when Beckett hugged me "You better text me every single day, I was already sad to leave you during graduation and at that you were supposed to be living in the US!" I laughed on her shoulder as she spoke "You better kick some serious ass there okay? I won't accept anything less than some Steven Spielberg material from your project"

"Beckett we're shooting a documentary not a romance movie if that's what you're expecting" I let go and looked at her glossy eyes.

"That's what they said about Avatar and look at how that turned out!" she laughed and hugged me one last time "I love you so much you're going to do so well, I'm already proud, please remember me when you're glamorous and wealthy okay? If you ever need a promoter call me, that's what I majored in anyway" 

"Nobody said that about A-"

Rob honked cutting me off "C'mon Becky! Hurry up or I'll leave you to walk home alone" and Beckett let go of me and ran towards his car, her hair in the wind as she did so and I laughed at my best friend as she stumbled towards the passenger seat, knowing no matter how far we'd live she would always be with me in a way. Not only figuratively but also literally because even now inside that car I could see her hands swiftly moving over her phone screen and two seconds later I heard my own ring.

"Have a nice trip!" I heard her voice through the speakers but also through the car window and then I saw my brother mischeviously smiling while swating her hand away, which caused the phone call to end and his car engine growl.

"I love you guys!" I screamed at them as they waved at me, disappearing into LA's starless night "A lot" I sighed entering the hotel I was staying my last night in my home country, well at least for six months.

 

* * *

 

The next morning I met with Professor William and half of our crew at LAX, he informed me that the rest of our staff was already in South Korea as they live there, he also assured me that everyone's documentation was ready when I asked him about the Korean visa I didn't got the chance to get, I found out that having Samsung as your sponsor really pays off since they already had taken care of everyone's visas in record time.

Our flight number resounded through the airport's speakers while we passed for the check points and finally found our seats in the stuffed airplane, mine was next Professor William's and I could already sense that neither of us were going to grab some sleep as we left off.

"I'm buzzing" he commented as we sat down "I don't think I have been this excited for something since my wedding, and you've never seen someone as amazing as my wife was"

He proceeded to tell me that he met his wife is South Korea while he use to work there as a journalist and that they got married before he left. "She died at a  very young age" he said "But I loved her nonetheless and I was very glad that she was willing to spend the little time she had left with me. You know how people call Paris 'The City Of Love'? Forget about that, Seoul is the  _real_  City Of Love" he smiled at me and then asked how I was feeling about our trip and living in a foreign country.

"I'm very excited too Professor" I said to him after clearing my throat "But I'm quite worried about the cultural difference between them and us aren't you?"

"God knows I was back in the day, but now I'm more than used to it. You see, I watch way too many K-Dramas online" he laughed "By the way you can call me Will from now on Cora, you're a professional just like me from the moment you were handed your diploma" he continued "Anyway, if you want to I can teach you some basic things such as treatment pronouns and greetings, do you?"

"It'd be so glad if you did so" I smiled at him "I've been stressing about this since yesterday but I had no time to look it up" 

So he did as he said, apparently Koreans take their hierarchy much more seriously than us Americans, Will taught me to call elder guys "oppa" but told me not to use it too soon, because a lot of girls give this title to their boyfriends, and I wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea. He also told me "noona" is the title that boys use towards elder women but also their girlfriends, working on a similar way as "oppa" so if someone calls me that I should keep my eyes open as well.

It felt almost like I was college all over again, he was teaching me so much about South Korea's culture I had to hold myself back from calling him Professor William. When I had memorized all of basic treatment pronouns Will decided to teach me "slangs" and "street talk" as he decided to call them, it was really funny because I could tell he was feeling like some rap star such as Kendrick Lamar or Jay-Z just by saying "assa" or "daebak" which I can't even remember what could possibly mean since I couldn't stop laughing, I think I might have woken up part of our crew but at that moment I couldn't hold back anymore.

We kept talking during the whole flight, Will narrated me the stories about his life in Korea and how much he missed his wife and how going there again would be the greatest closure he would have he said, I was impressed of how much this man has lived and experienced, I already held respect for him during our classes at the uni but seeing now how much he had to deal with and how he endured whatever was thrown at him made me feel glad I had the chance to work with him and get to know him more than the rest of my classmates, as selfish as I sound I wouldn't want any of them to live this but me. Later on he ended up showing me one of his favorite dramas, which was actually better than I though it would be so we watched halfway through it until it was time to leave.

The plane landed in Seoul faster than I thought it would, our flight attendant handed us masks and we put them on before leaving the airport, almost everyone was wearing one of them so I didn't felt out of place, it was also comforting not having to display my face straight at those unknow people. After passing through all the check points again and grabbing my bags I got to meet the city that was going to be my home for the rest of the year, but I had only two thoughts crossing my mind as I looked around: if I would be able to hold on to this opportunity while keeping my mental health intact  **and** to remember to text Rob telling him that OMO here means "Oh My God".

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

A minivan drove us to the house we would be sharing and we were informed that it would be our only transportation unless we decided to go by cab or subway, but that would be at our own cost. I found out that I would have to share my room with another girl named Lena that was a member of our Korean crew, our recordings would start at 7am every day from Monday to Friday and we’d be together until 6pm. That was our basic group schedule for the next months, minus the lunch breaks.

Will would be on charge of making sure the project was going according to the plans just like he said to me back in Dr. Robinson’s office. Assembling a leader he informed us that we wouldn’t be recording that day due the fact that it was already 5pm which wasn’t going to give us much film footage to work with, he also told us to get ready to go out by 8pm because we were having dinner at the restaurant to get to know each other before starting to work together in hopes to start creating a bond between us all.

After all of the memos were given I headed to my room, it was big enough for the two people and Lena and I ended up having to share the bathroom as well since it was a suite, she had already settled her things down because her team got here before mine “I was hoping there was another girl in our staff, these boys sometimes can be a handful” she rolled her eyes and stuck her hand out “I’m Lena by the way, I don’t have a nickname so you can call me that” she smiled while turning to look at my bags “Oh you’ve brought so many things! Do you need help? I literally have nothing to do” she passed by me and opened one of my backpacks pointing out that she loved my clothes even though according to her they’d never fit her which was a shame, I mentally thanked Rob and proceeded to tell her about him and the fact that he’s the reason why I’ve brought so much clothing.

“Ah I have a brother too, but he’s really young” she said and started telling me about her family and I felt lucky to be paired with someone who gave me such a warm welcome, we introduced ourselves even though we already knew each other’s names. 

We looked completely different, she was petite and had really long brunette hair styled with a few blonde highlights meanwhile I was tall and my hair was quite short, not only our features were different but also the way we dressed, her outfit was pretty hip and I bet Rob would have loved her top while I felt comfortable enough in my black skinny jeans and white t-shirt, that’s why I was so reluctant in spending so much money on new clothes for this trip knowing pieces such as that fur coat would only come in handy if I was way out of my mind.

When my things were all organized we both laid down on our beds and she turned to look at me “Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?” Lena asked and I felt my facing heating up “Not really, my boyfriend and I broke up about a year ago and since then I’ve only had flings there and here you know?” I answered her.

“Ah! We should go out and party one of those nights then!” she quickly got up and sat next to where I was “I broke up with my fiancé last month and I still didn’t celebrate it!”

I laughed at her, going out to celebrate a failed relationship, she truly was something else “I’m sorry? I mean you don’t seem to be sad so are my condolences still valid?”

“Girl, life is too short to be mopping around because of _boys_ ” she said to me “Besides, I can always find another boyfriend, I might not be on my early twenties anymore but I still got a lot going on right?” she knocked her elbow on my waist causing me to giggle.

“I can’t disagree with that” I said “If you don’t mind me asking… How old are you?”

“I saw that coming! But I don't mind, I’m 28” she smiled at me “And you?”

“Really? You look much younger! I’m 22” I replied which caused her to choke.

“Omo! You’re such a baby!” she pinched my cheeks “Thanks but I guess all of us Koreans look younger than our actual selves it’s both a blessing and a curse, but seriously when did you even graduate?”

“Last week” I laughed “I still can’t believe I’m actually here”

“WHAT? When I graduated it took me so long to even find an internship! Look at you already having a job! And abroad!” she exclaimed “How did you even manage?”

So I told her about my graduation project and how it led to my talk with Will and Dr. Robinson and how I couldn’t even imagine having this opportunity before even starting to create my name in the business and how grateful I was for this chance to learn so much from people who are much more professional than I am and she listened to me very intently which only kept me going.

“… And that’s it” I finished explaining to her.

“Wait a minute” Lena breathed out “So you’re telling me, you’re responsible for this whole thing? Like, you wrote it all? Before even graduating?”

“It’s not like that, my project is only being used as a draft! I am no way that good, Will is the one conducting this whole thing along with our sponsors” I blushed “I just wrote some stuff on a paper and it turns out Will and other people liked it enough to try to turn it in to a real thing”

“Shut up! I’m sorry! You are such a badass I can’t believe you!” she clasped her hands together “And you’re still humble about it! _‘I just wrote some stuff’_ ” she mimicked me “You are literally the reason why I’m getting paid for the next months! I love you already”

“It’s not me who's paying you it's POSCO and Sam-”

But I was cut off by Lena’s snort “Enough with this, I wish I was that amazing when I was your age” she said to me “Would you look at that, anyway I need to sleep a bit before going out and I’m telling this to everyone! They think some big shot is behind this all and it turns out is you! Some of the guys were even saying on the way here 'I hope our boss won't be too bad' I'm screaming inside, this is the greatest thing I’ve heard all day” she rolled on her side and adjusted the pillow near her.

“Please don’t tell anyone!” I turned to look at her but she was already asleep, or pretending to be “Ah drop it, I'll just talk to you later”

After checking if all of my belongings were well organized I decided to go out and explore the neighborhood to start getting used to it, you never know when you’ll need to go to a drugstore or to the supermarket as we all live together I think we’ll split the responsibilities around the house right? I grabbed my backpack and filled it with my camera, wallet and a map I bought in one of the airport’s shops, just in case my phone’s GPS failed me – not that I don’t trust Siri, but you never know – and left the room.

“Where are you off to?” Will asked me as I bumped on him

“I’ll just look around for a while, I feel like I’ve got too many energy to spend” I answered truthfully, that was also one of the reasons why I didn’t want to stay inside, I felt like there was too much to be seen and to be discovered, I couldn’t bare sitting there with a whole new world just a few steps away.

“I’m the opposite” he laughed “But just make sure to meet us on the restaurant for dinner okay? I’m not that good with socialization so it’d be nice to have a familiar face around” Will smiled and gave me the directions to get there.

Saying goodbye I left the house, none of my colleagues were around, I guess I was the only one who wasn’t tired, that or I was but my body didn’t took notice of it at the time.

I didn’t plan on going back to the hotel so I was already on my dinner clothes as it wasn’t going to be fancy according to Will, turns out Korean summer doesn’t feel half as hot than I thought it would, so going out on the sun wearing all black wasn’t a problem for me like it used to be in LA. Beckett would’ve loved here I thought to myself as I walked down the street.

During my wandering I pondered if I could turn this trip not only a professional project but also a personal one by documenting it just like I used to do back in college – a making of of the making of of my life – by doing so I would be able to keep my memories untouched and unedited and at the same time train my photographing skills, I concluded that there were no cons on my idea so and started right away.

I took a few pictures of the trees around and of a few passengers too, until an old lady gave me a look so I stopped for a while until she was gone, I need to learn a lesson or two about other people’s personal space I guess.

A hour passed and I finally found a café that wasn’t too crowded, I still had one more hour to kill before meeting up with the crew so I got in, the atmosphere of the place felt really nice, it had mini water fountains and the room was fully decorated with pastel colors which gave to it a cute cartoon vibe. Sitting down I grabbed a menu and skimmed through it.

While waiting for my order to arrive I heard a loud chatter coming from the cashier stand, looking up I saw a few girls – I guessed they were in between the ages of sixteen and eighteen – that weren’t looking very pleased with whatever the boy behind the counter was telling them, causing my curiousness to spark. The journalist in me wanted to go there and ask the questions that were forming inside my brain but I couldn't so it due the cultural bareer between us.

My coffee was served and I kept observing the scene blooming in front of me, the girls left the stand to sit in one of the tables nearby, they were going through their phones and talking to each other, I wasn't able to find out what they were going on about because I couldn’t understand any Korean words besides “oppa” coming out of their mouths but some of them looked very stern and I wondered if someone was missing maybe one of their friends? Or one of the girl’s boyfriend since the younger one seemed to be holding back tears, I wanted to go there and talk to them so badly but there was no way I could do it so I kept watching from afar until another group of girls arrived.

Their actions were the same, they went to the cashier and then to another table. At that point I gave up on trying to read their expressions and understand the situation, so I got up and walked towards the bathroom to check on my appearance before leaving to go find a cab and head to the restaurant, even though I had time left, I wanted to cause a good impression since on the flight Will told me that our native colleagues probably give a lot of thought to social manners and I’m not so sure if they’d find it great if I showed up late for our first night out.

I opened the bathroom door and I couldn’t see a thing “Have this people ever thought about LED lights?” I thought out loud while locking the door and trying to find the switch so I could turn it up for the room would become visible, when I was caught off guard by a pair of hands, one of them covering my mouth and the other trying to drag me away I tried to scream but the sound wouldn’t pass through the hand that was blocking it and no matter how much I tossed and turned I couldn’t escape from the arm that was wrapped around me. _I’m going to die_ I thought, there was no way in hell I could leave that cubic room  _but I don’t want to die_ I replied to my own self so I kept on fighting whoever was holding me.

I kept kicking but my feet only reach the air each time until one of them knocked on the wall turning the lights on during the process, meanwhile the person let go of me to block the door and I finally got the chance to look at it – now a _him_ – it was a guy, I didn’t know how tall but he was bigger than me and he was wearing a mask just like the one I was handed on the airport but instead of white like mine his was black, so his face was hidden, I couldn’t tell how old he was but he didn’t seem to be much older than me and his figure was slim which caused me to wonder if he really was strong enough to contain me like he did just seconds ago or if was just too weak to fight anyone.

I froze in place and he slipped down the door and sat on the floor sighing and taking his mask off, he looked at me for the first time and smiled “Annyeong!” he said and waved at me.

What the fuck?

I started to scream now that I was - partially - free. I couldn’t scream much anyway he was faster than me so he caught me and placed his hand on my mouth again “Shhhhhh” he said following by a bunch of sentences that made no sense to me, he must have felt secure when I stopped kicking and tried to listen to what he was saying so he let go of my mouth and looked at me again as he was waiting for me to say something “Geulaeseo…?”

“To be honest I didn’t understand whatever you said and I also didn’t understand your actions but if you let me go in peace I won’t go the police station, wherever it is located, and press charges against you” I said looking him in the eye “Would you just move so I can pass?”

The boy started laughing even though I didn’t see an ounce of fun on what was happening, he covered his mouth just like he did with mine for the sound not to echo but he wasn’t being successful at it so he covered his whole face while sitting down against the door again while I just stood there motionless waiting for whatever he was going to do.

“You don’t know who I am?” his voice broke as he kept laughing “Omo! I’m so sorry, you don't speak my language right? Let me explain again” he said in between laughs and I started to wonder if I was part of a variety show, but I couldn't find any cameras around so I guessed he was just out of his mind.

“I literally have no interest! Can’t you just let me go?” I asked

“No can do, there are girls outside this door right? In the café?” he asked and I nodded “None of us can leave, you see they are here looking for me but I can’t deal with them right now so I had to hide somewhere and you entered here I actually thought you were one of my stalkers”

This guy actually thinks he has stalkers, what a lunatic “So your first reaction was to attack me? Really? And let’s suppose any of those girls were looking for you why the hell are you hiding in the girl’s bathroom? It’s like you are trying to be caught!”

“Is this the girl’s room? Are you serious?” he exclaimed “I’m so so so sorry I didn’t know that now I understand why you’re so mad! Agh I’m sorry I thought you got in the boy’s bathroom to find me and do whatever, omo I’m so sorry” he covered his face with his palms while still saying sorry.

 _I can’t believe this is my life_ I thought looking at the boy in front of me, that now I'm convinced isn't only crazy but also dumb.

“Okay, now that we settled that I’m not trying to kidnap you or something, can I just leave?” I said as I grabbed his shoulder trying to move him away from the door but no matter how much I'd try to drag or push him it was useless “C’mon I have a meeting to attend in a few minutes, please just slide a little”

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you go until those girls leave, which will probably take quite some time, you know, they all love me very much” he looked up at me and gestured to the floor “Why don’t you sit?”

So I sat down staring at the boy trying to read him, I couldn’t tell if he was being honest but this whole _they all love me very much_ and stalker thing seemed very suspicious and who in their right mind gets confused by bathroom signs? _No one_ I answered my own question. Also who grabs another person like that? And don't let them go?

“Social manners my ass” I mumbled whilist playing with my hands that were red from all the pushing and grabbing.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing”

“No, seriously what did you just say?” 

“It’s none of your business” I replied trying to make him catch the hint to leave me alone.

“C’mon don’t be like that! I already said I’m sorry! What are you thinking?” he kept bugging me which caused every nerve on my body to wake up and I could predict things weren’t going to end up nicely.

“I was thinking about how I’ve heard that Seoul’s citizens and the whole country actually care about manners, but **you** didn’t think twice before grabbing me and shutting me up when I got here and all I wanted to do was check my make up not to rip one of your fingers and sell it on e-bay” I bitterly said and he laughed.

“I’m sorry about that too!” he clasped his hands “I’m sorry about everything that happened ever since you got inside here with me! But I was too afraid to be caught by one of those girls” he looked at me eyes bright from the tears he was holding from laughing.

“You know I still haven’t bought this whole stalker story right? I’m still waiting for you to take me away to some alley and honestly don't know why you haven't done that yet, at least I would have a chance on running away” I replied sounding much more confident than I actually was because if he was really a criminal I would be so screwed I couldn’t even bring myself to think about what would happen, I didn't even know what song I wanted to be played on my wedding and there I was thinking about what songs my parents would choose to be played at my funeral.

“It’s the truth!” he replied scrunching his face “I tried to explain to you! Listen here, my name is Park Chanyeol and I’m part of a group named EXO, like a singing and dancing group you know? _'Call me baby call me baby'_  haven’t you heard of us?” he asked and I shook my head no, he seemed hurt by it but kept going “Like the ones you see on TV and go to their concerts! That’s what we do basically, we even had a TV show called EXO Next Door, does it ring a bell to you?" I shrugged causing his face to fall  "Anyway, our fan base happened to grow a lot and now some of our fans manage to track us down, I have no idea how! They just do! Which scares me a lot! We live in a dorm nearby and my friends who also happen to be my members asked me to grab coffee for them so I came here but those girls found me and now I’m trapped!” his body gave up as he lied on the cold bathroom floor and I looked at him finally starting to believe in his words “Look, I’m sorry I attacked you and I’m sorry you have to stay here with me but I was scared of them and I’m really tired so can you just wait until they go away please? I can drive you to wherever you have to be when this ends, just stay?” he turned his face to the spot where I was sitting and I nodded, my madness slowly fading letting pity take its place. 

“Thank you so much” he sighed through his hands that covered his face “I just realized that I don’t even know your name”

“It’s Cora” I said through the chatter that kept going outside, _is it possible for more girls to have arrived?_

“Suits you” he simply said, his hands still over his face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know” he replied “It just fits you, you look like a Cora” he said while sitting back to where he was “Not that I know any other Coras, but you just look like what you’d expect from a Cora named person, does it make sense?”

“No” I said and he laughed “Anyway, just show me something from this band of yours, you got me curious”

“It did make sense!” he said “And it’s a group, not a band, but fine come here” he opened a space next to him for me to sit while grabbing his phone.

“You better be good” I commented looking at him “So my time won't be wasted”

“There’s so much to get done in a bathroom right?” Chanyeol turned to look at me and smirked “And believe me Cora, we’re not just good. We’re excellent”


	3. Chapter 3

 

> [20:10:08: Will]: Where are you? Everyone is here.
> 
> [20:19:05: Will]: You’re not lost are you? I gave you the right directions!
> 
> [20:21:10: Me]: Something came up and it’s urgent, would you please tell people that I’ll be late and that I’m sorry? I will be there asap. Sorry.
> 
> [20:21:49: Will]: Is everything okay?
> 
> [20:22:07: Me]: Yes. I’m sorry, I’ll be there.
> 
> [20:30:15: Will]: Ok.

I sighed putting my phone back in my pocket wondering how much more time I had before my crew left the restaurant to go back home, next to me Chanyeol was using his mobile to talk to his members, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying but he kept laughing so I guessed things would work out for him and I was glad, after all it wasn’t his fault those girls crowded the café since he couldn’t know he’d be found.

Lost in my thoughts I didn’t realize he had ended the call until he poked my arm “They aren’t mad at me!” he smiled “Kyungsoo said he really wanted his americano though”

“Even after watching all of those videos I still can’t link the faces to the names” I looked up at him, even sitting down he was taller than me “I think I need some practice”

“Ah, you haven’t told me what you thought of us yet!” he said “I think our main rapper is really great right? A true diamond he is, so handsome”

“I think you meant a diamond in the rough” I replied and he pulled a hurt expression while pushing me away “Ow! I was kidding!” I defended while rubbing my sore shoulder.

“Obviously” Chanyeol pouted “Don’t think I wasn't watching you watching our videos, you looked pretty amused if you were to ask me”

“Did I ask?” I chuckled “Also, you were watching me watching you? Creep”

“So you were only watching me? Nice” he raised his eyebrows “You can call me oppa from now on. Lots of girls call me oppa you know”

“I’m not calling you that!” I smacked his arm “Speaking of girls, don’t you think that they probably left at this hour?”

“I truthfully hope you will” he mumbled “Anyway if you want to check… I’m not risking it” he answered, so I stood up and opened the door in a rift saving enough space so I could only put my face out of it and not my whole body.

“Can you see any girls?” Chanyeol asked me as I put my face out of the door “C’mon tell me”

I looked around and even though there was a corner partially blocking my view I couldn’t see any of those teens that were out there sooner, I could see a lady and an older man cleaning the tables and the cashier counting money though so I guessed the café was reaching its closing hour, my thoughts were interrupted by Chanyeol’s face resting next to mine on the door frame “You’re too slow!” he whined “Answer me when I ask you something”

“Stay quiet!” I hissed “I can’t see anyone but the cleaning staff and the cashier, I think they’re closing, it’s almost nine anyway. Do you see anything?” he shook his head so I left the door and closed it while he moved away, turning to look at him I asked “Can we leave now? Maybe I can still make it to my meeting”

“I guess we can, you go first though” he opened the door for me to pass.

“What a gentleman you are! Opening the door for me to be put up for sacrifice” I said and he laughed as I passed in front of him “Can’t afford to lose all that uh?”

“Why are you scanning me?” he put his hands up “Do that later! Go!”

I shook my head at him and started to walk towards the front being careful for my footsteps not to make much noise on the wooden floor, when I reached the corner that previously was blocking my view I could see the entire café and my predictions were confirmed when I saw the open sign turned backwards meaning they had already closed, I hoped we wouldn’t get scolded for staying there for too long but I’m sure if Chanyeol explained the situation they would understand.

I went back to the bathroom and knocked on its door, it opened revealing an already masked Chanyeol “We can go now” I said to him and opened space for him to pass.

He held the door open and handed me my backpack “Let’s not forget this right?” and I thanked him, after it he started walking forward and I followed his footsteps until he stopped by the cashier stand and started to talk to the boy I saw there earlier, I couldn’t understand what they were saying but by the looks of it we weren’t in trouble, I guessed the guy recognized Chanyeol by his face expression or maybe he told him who he was.

At some point he rested his hand over my head and the cashier turned to look at me and I smiled still not knowing what was happening but playing along, Chanyeol said something as he handed some money to the boy who did nothing but nod, even behind that mask I could tell by the look on his eyes that he was smiling which put me at ease knowing everything was going to be fine, back in the bathroom I had already noticed that his eyes squish when he smiles and that was what was happening with them at that moment.

He bowed to the boy and I mimicked him feeling like it was the right thing to do, then he turned to me and said “I think everything is settled, let’s go!” he said and grabbed my hand leading me out of the café, passing through its glass door and finally being out in the open.

“Ah! I feel like I haven’t breathed fresh air in a lifetime!” he let go of my hand to take off his mask and put it in his pocket “Aren’t you relieved?”

“I am” I blandly said looking at my phone, it was already 9:15pm “Do you know where can I grab a cab around here? I might not make it to the restaurant in time but better late than never… Right?”

“I told you I’d drive you wherever you need to go!” he said to me “Just give me the directions”

“No it’s fine, I just need to find a taxi nearby” I argued “You have to go to your dorm anyway, aren’t your members hungry? Look, I can take care of myself, I even brought a map with me!” I took my map out of my backpack and showed it to him “See?”

“Why are you being like this?” he frowned “My members can cook something themselves I’m sure, besides I can’t leave you on your own at this time of the night all by yourself, who knows what kind of driver you can get? What if something happens? You don’t know Seoul much do you?” he asked and I shook my head no “Omo, I won’t be at peace leaving you like this! Picture this: you give your taxi driver the address of your meeting and he starts driving to a different place, as you aren’t familiar with the surrounding you think everything is going just fine and BAM!” he clapped his hand “You are completely alone with a total stranger in a new city! God knows what he could do to you! I don’t want to even start to imagine! So please just follow me”

"Let me remark that I don't even know you that much, you're almost as strange to me as the next guy" I said and he ran his hand through his hair as he asked “Please?”

I found myself cornered: if I said yes he would have to drive for God knows how long meanwhile people waited for him to go back home and I didn’t want to burden any of them, on the other hand he was the one who held me back from going to the dinner earlier and he did have a point on what he had just said to me, if didn’t even have enough time to get used to this neighborhood that seemed to be very nice and safe would I be able to tell if I was being headed to the right place or if I was being played by a stranger inside a city that remained a mystery to me?

“Are you sure I won’t trouble you?” I asked him after pondering for a while.

“Of course I am!” he answered “So, are you coming?”

“Yes, but only because you got me really worried!” I told him “Thank you”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the first part” he smiled “Come”

Chanyeol’s car wasn’t parked too far from the café so it didn’t take long for us to get there, his car was black and very fancy, not that I was expecting a celebrity to move around in rollerblades, but as I haven’t heard of him or his group before I thought they were more low-key, for the looks of it they aren’t. I don’t know a thing about cars so I couldn’t tell which model it was neither its year but it seemed to be brand new “What are you thinking about?” he asked me as he opened the passenger door for me and got in landing on his leather seat “Ah don’t mind the mess!” he said taking a dirty napkin out of the steering wheel and I laughed.

“I sure won’t, I’ll even close my eyes” I said shutting my eyes “I see no mess at all”

I heard him chuckle next to me “You really are something” he tapped my leg “Stop this, I need you to open your eyes so you can give me the directions to where you are going”

“Ah true!” I opened my eyes and searched my backpack for my phone “Can I say them now?” I asked.

“No, just text me them so I can put them on the GPS” he replied “Give me your phone”

So I did as he said and a few seconds later his phone made a noise indicating a message had arrived “Oh I know this place, it won’t take us more than a few minutes! There you were worrying for nothing”

He turned the engine on and we took off, I decided to call Lena as Will probably was already disappointed in me, after a few rings she pick up telling me not to worry about being late because it didn’t seem that any of them were going to leave early and she assured me that Will wasn’t being a loner “He and our crew have been acting so friendly towards each other that I’m starting to feel like I’m being replaced! And I’ve known some of these people for years!” she laughed trough the phone which calmed me down a bit, she also promised to wait for me outside the restaurant so I would be sure I was at the right place as soon as I saw her, I thanked her one last time before ending our call and saying we’d see one another in a few moments.

Meeting someone so soon and already being able to count on them was new to me but I was glad that I would be able to find a friend in Lena in spite of the fact that I’ve only known her for hours, I also was counting on Chanyeol trusting him that he wouldn’t take me somewhere dangerous, but he was just a piece in destiny’s game of life, even though we had just randomly met – in an extremely weird way I may say – there I was in his car, with a soft unknown melody playing on the radio for and my acquaintance’s voice floating over it as if he had done it too many times.

“Was that your boyfriend?” he asked me as soon as the song ended.

“No, I called my friend to know how things were going on the meeting” I told him “I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that maybe I would get there and everybody would be mad at me for being so late or that they’d be gone by now”

“Ah I see” he said “I’m sorry I held you back”

“It’s okay, oh! Can you tell me when we’re near the place? The friend I just mentioned said she will be waiting for me on the outside”

“No problem” he assured me and the conversation died for a while, so I decided to grab my camera and take pictures of the road for my personal project, rolling the passenger window down I put my upper body out of it to do so, Seoul’s night streets were very bright and a crowded and even though a few pictures turned out blurred I could try and fix them later.

“What are you doing?!?!?” Chanyeol said as he reached for my arm and pulled me back on my seat “Trying to get yourself killed?!?!?”

I landed on it with a thump “What was that for?” I whined and took a picture of him as my own personal revenge “Ah aren’t you cute?” I teased and he glared at me again.

“I’m one to ask! Let me see that picture you just took!” he said sticking his hand out again.

“No! That was for dragging me down” I stuck my tongue out at him “Watch the road! Plus, I like to document things, my life for example, nowadays you can put almost everything on film you know? So your memories won’t ever go away” I briefly explained and he started laughing “What?” I asked him.

“You can’t possibly believe in what you just said” he glanced at me and I stayed mute, so he continued as realization hit him “Seriously?”

“Well, yes” I replied “In pictures and videos feelings, people and places can be eternalized. If you take a picture of someone crying they will be sad forever in it and if you take a picture of a couple on their wedding day they are forever happily in love in it, it doesn’t matter if a year later they will be filling their divorce papers, that moment back in the day will last forever and so will the feelings on it because it has been captured and saved, that is one of the reasons why I studied both journalism and film-making, to eternalize moments, no matter how great or horrible they can possibly be, at least they will always be there, I truly believe they are the only steady things in our lives, the moments we decide to save for ourselves”

“I was wondering what you did for a living but I didn’t want to seem nosy, that’s cool” he said “Okay, you do have a point but form the perspective of someone who basically lives in front of cameras, I can assure you that some of the most precious and magical moments of my life happened off-camera, unless if it’s when me and my boys are performing in concert, but what I mean is that the best things that happened to me occurred when everyone was too busy to get ahold their phones and cameras you know? If you spend your time always trying to capture things you end up investing less of it living them, at least that’s what I think”

“Excuse me? Uh, that kind of hurts my feelings"

"I didn't mean it like that!" he tried to help himself "I was just trying to make my point valiable"

"You basically just said that I'll be spending my days recording things that aren't even that great" I sighed "That's fine"

"I'm a huge jerk okay?" he replied as his eyes tried to search for me and the road at the same time "I bet you could record a piece of doughnut and still make it look like the most magical thing in the world"

I laughed as he stopped on a red light “Do you know how much longer it will take to get there?”

 "It will take around five minutes. I'm sorry" he replied.

"I think I'll recover" I smiled "Stop looking at me like that!" I laughed as I reached to pinch his cheeck and he joined me.

“You can tell your friend to head outside if you want to” he said while rubbing his face.

So I did as he told and for the next minutes Chanyeol and I made small talk until he stopped his car in front of a two-stored restaurant, looking up I could see some people and I think I might have heard Will’s laugh but I wasn’t sure of it and seconds later I caught a glimpse of Lena’s hair and wasn’t surprised when I saw her running towards me as I climbed out of the car with Chanyeol.

“Omo! I was starting to worry about you!” she said while hugging me, before that I noticed that her cheeks were rosy and wondered if she and our colleagues have been drinking “What took you so long anyway?” she said and let go of me.

“I can explain” I started when I felt a tap on my shoulder and only realized then that Chanyeol hadn’t left “Let me” he whispered “Annyeong! I’m Ch-”

But he was cut by a much chocked Lena who had been watching the scene happening before her eyes who said “Ch-Chanyeol? Park Chanyeol?”

I started to blush at my friend’s actions, hoping from the bottom of my heart that she wouldn’t pull a crazy fangirl act in the middle of the street since he had been avoiding this kind of situation the whole day, which would make me feel bad for being the one to provide exactly it. But much to my surprise he wasn’t offended or taken aback by her, actually what he did next was exactly the opposite of anything I was expecting.

“Lena?!?!?!?” he exclaimed and pulled her close to hug her “Is it really you?!?”

I just stood there watching them excitedly talk completely lost about what was happening, apparently they knew each other but I had no idea how, but to be fair I had no idea of anything, I didn’t know these people and I didn’t know this town so everything was different from what I’m used to, but I was still surprised when I asked “Do you know each other? I mean, it’s pretty obvious but how?” I didn’t want to pry but my curiousness got the best of me at the time.

Chanyeol placed his arm around Lena’s shoulder as he replied “Your friend here worked on my group’s TV show back in 2013? It was 2013 right?” he asked her and she nodded “You hair is different now though!” he said looking down at her, I was smaller than him – which was new for me because I’ve been one of the tallest persons in a room since high school – but Lena managed to be even tinier than me so their height difference was astounding.

“I still can’t get over how you guys used to say ‘SHOWTIME!’ on every episode” she laughed at the memory “But how do you know each other? You said you didn’t know anyone in the whole country and here you are grabbing a ride with him!” she smacked my arm “Can’t trust anyone anymore”

“I don’t!” I defended “I’ve only known him for a couple of hours… It’s a long story actually, right Chanyeol?” I looked at him hoping he’d catch the hint to help me and tell her to let it go.

“One I’d love to tell you!” he happily said and I mentally face palmed myself “But don’t you have to get back in there?” he tilted his head towards the restaurant door as he said so.

“I almost forgot about it!” Lena said “Ah, but I’m _so curious_! Join us for a few drinks will you?” she invited Chanyeol along and pointed to the rooftop “We’re sitting right there, the view is great and you’d be able to tell me the whole story!”

“Lena, I’m sure he’s tired” I said anxiousness growing inside of me “And he also have to get back to his dorm, I mean-”

“Sure, why not?” he smiled as he looked at me “A few drinks won’t hurt right?”


End file.
